


Thunderclouds

by Captain_Jade



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Anxiety, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Light Angst, Peridot Has An Anxiety Disorder (Steven Universe), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, scared peridot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 10:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24968149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Jade/pseuds/Captain_Jade
Summary: Peridot decides that she's afraid of the raging thunderstorm outside even more than she's afraid of her new barnmate. She decides to risk it and go to Lapis for comfort. It goes a lot better than she thought it would.
Relationships: Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 129





	Thunderclouds

Peridot knows what thunder is.

 _Logically_ , she knows that that’s all this is: a storm. Granted, it’s a pretty big storm—the biggest one she’s ever encountered on Earth, in fact—but that’s all it is. However, no matter how many times she mumbles that to herself under her breath, huddled under a blanket in the corner of the barn, clutching onto her tablet like it’s a teddy bear, whatever invention she was working on lying forgotten a few feet away, she can’t seem to calm down. She’s never heard such loud thunder before. It’s so loud it practically shakes the barn, and every time it does she feels tears well up in her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks.

She’s tried to call Steven 19 times already, but the weather must be messing with the connection, because none of her calls have gone through. She doesn’t really know what she’d do if he did pick up anyway. It’s not like she can ask him to come all the way to the barn through all this rain just to give her a hug. The worst part is, though, that she knows he probably would, if he were able to do so without Pearl catching him and freaking out about he was going to catch a ‘cold’. (Which never makes any sense to Peridot. How can you catch a temperature? Can you catch a hot, too? She has no idea what that’s about, only that Pearl always says Steven is going to catch a cold whenever he goes outside in the rain.)

But she wouldn’t do that. “That’s ridiculous,” Peridot mutters to herself, rocking back and forth. “I don’t _need_ a hug. I’m not...I-I’m not scared. I’m not scared of anything. I’m a Crystal Clod now. We’re supposed to be...we…” she shudders, squeezing her eyes shut. Maybe she should go ask Lapis.

That would be even more ridiculous. Lapis doesn’t even like her. Plus she’s sleeping. She would probably be pretty pissed off if she was woken up in the middle of the night just because her roommate whom she didn’t even like wanted a hug.

On the other hand, the only other option Peridot has is to stay in the corner in the dark scared out of her mind. She stands up shakily and hugs herself, cautiously walking across the barn to the couch where Lapis is asleep. “U-um...Lapis?” Peridot whispers, gently shaking her awake.

“Ugh...what do you want?” Lapis groans. She throws her arm over her face dramatically.

“I…I, um...I just...I was just...well, um…” Peridot stutters nervously. “I j-just...I just wanted to make sure...you weren’t scared of the storm.”

Lapis opens her eyes and gives her a weird look. “Why would I be scared of a storm?”

”U-um...I don’t know. Never mind.” Peridot plans on walking away after that, but for some reason it feels like her feet are glued to the ground.

"Are _you_ scared?" Lapis sits up and raises and eyebrow.

"What? N-no, of course not," Peridot insists.

Right on cue, an ear-splitting thunderclap sounds out and Peridot throws herself at Lapis, burying her face in her chest and whimpering. Lapis blinks. _This_ is the Peridot that had interrogated her on the ship? The terrifying Homeworld gem, Jasper's second-in-command? She certainly doesn't look like it now. She's literally shaking with fear, clinging onto Lapis for dear life.

"Well, what do you want me to do, hold your hand?" Lapis hisses. She immediately regrets it afterward when she feels the way Peridot recoils and stands back up, still trembling.

"N-no," she says, in a voice that makes Lapis think that that was probably exactly what she wanted her to do. Peridot flinches as another crack of thunder sounds out, visibly restraining herself from jumping on Lapis again. "I-I-I'm really sorry for waking you up," Peridot whispers. "I'll leave you alone.” She turns around to go back to the dark corner of the barn she was hiding in, but Lapis feels another unwanted pang of guilt.

Lapis sighs. "Wait," she says. "You...you can stay. I'm sorry. That wasn't very nice of me."

Peridot's eyes widen, hesitantly turning around. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

"Wow, thanks!" Peridot grins, although her face falls after the next rumble of thunder, and she flinches again, whimpering slightly.

Lapis stares at her a moment, not really sure what to do. Awkwardly, she pulls the blanket next to her out of the way and pats the seat next to her as an invitation for Peridot to sit down. Peridot immediately ducks under Lapis' arm and curls up with her head on her chest, putting Lapis' arm around her shoulders.

Lapis rolls her eyes, but she doesn't say anything snarky. The way Peridot squeezes her eyes shut and trembles every time they can hear thunder is more heart-wrenching than Lapis would like to admit. She pulls the blanket tighter around them and gives Peridot a little squeeze, trying to make her feel more safe. "Didn't you try to sacrifice yourself to the rubies to save Steven? And call Yellow Diamond a clod? Why are you so scared of a little thunder?" Lapis asks, out of genuine curiosity.

"It's not a 'little' thunder," Peridot informs her as a matter-of-factly. "When I first encountered the strange Earth phenomenon known as 'rain' Steven explained to me how it worked. I'm usually fine with it. But th-this..." her voice wavers when she looks outside, and she pauses to bury her face in Lapis' shoulder again. "This is not a 'little' thunder. This is a _lot_ of thunder. It just...it makes me feel like the Cluster is reemerging and we’re all gonna die because I can never go back to Homeworld because I'm a traitor so I have nowhere else to-" Peridot promptly cuts herself off with a sob.

"Um...oh, hey," Lapis says gently, awkwardly giving her a hug. "Don't cry."

"I-I-I'm trying not to," Peridot squeaks, climbing onto Lapis' lap.

“Oh,” Lapis says, remembering that Steven told her that wasn’t a good thing to do. “Actually, never mind. You can cry. It’s okay.”

Peridot bursts into tears, and Lapis has no idea what to do about it. Peridot must have been really scared to come to _her_ for comfort.

Lapis looks down at Peridot and sees not the horrible Homeworld engineer who interrogated her, but a tiny, vulnerable, and very scared gem, and for the first time since they moved in together, Lapis fully believes what Steven said about Peridot being changed. She wraps her arms around her tightly, securing her in place on her lap as she pulls her closer to her chest to make her feel more secure.

“Shhh,” she whispers soothingly, rubbing her back. “You’re okay. You’re safe here, I promise.” Eventually Peridot calms down. Her tight grip on Lapis loosens, and her head droops loosely on her shoulder.

“You tired?” Lapis asks. Peridot seems to suddenly realize where she is and she jerks away from Lapis, falling off the couch in the process.

“Lapis! I’m s- I...I’m sorry you had to see that.” Peridot clears her throat and pushes her visor up, which was slipping down her nose. “I...I can...I can go if you want me to,” she mumbles.

“Do _you_ want to go?” Lapis asks carefully.

“Um...not really.”

“Then come back here, you clod.”

Peridot pauses, then very hesitantly climbs back onto Lapis’ lap. Lapis pulls the blanket over them again, and Peridot relaxes, putting her head back on Lapis’ shoulder. “I _am_ tired,” she admits.

“I’m right here, Peridot. You don’t have to be scared. You go ahead and sleep, I’ll stay awake and watch out for the Cluster, okay?”

“O-okay,” Peridot agrees.

* * *

The next morning when Steven goes to check on them, he finds Peridot still asleep on Lapis’ lap and a sheepish looking Lapis, who blushes and mumbles, “she got scared.”

“Awwwwwww,” Steven coos. “You guys are so cute!"

"No we're not!" Lapis argues, even though she knows he’s right.

Steven grins. “Okay.” He sits down next to her on the couch. “Was Peridot okay? I tried to call her but it didn’t work ‘cause of the storm. I was worried she’d be really scared.”

“Yeah, she was really scared. But I calmed her down.”

“Thank you, Lapis. I know she’s not your favorite person.”

“Eh,” Lapis says, smiling fondly at the sleeping gem on her chest. “She’s not so bad.”


End file.
